Crossing Paths
by PhantomPhever
Summary: A mysterious glowing green portal appears before Ed and Al while following a lead for the Philosopher's Stone. Where could this strange portal go? Do they dare cross through?
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey guys! Long time, no see. And I am _really _sorry about that! I'm back with a new story. But I will warn you now that I have barely anything done with this besdes a rough outline of the plot. But I wanted to put the prologue together to see what people think of the idea. And I am planning on finishing this story and An Unforeseen Power. It may take me a while, but I promise that they'll be finished! **

**This idea came to me a couple of days ago and was really nagging me, especially today, to be written. So here it is. Hope you enjoy.**

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Prologue

Clockwork moved at a quick but calm pace to the other side of his gear-like tower. The side that held dozens of monitors which displayed different places and periods of time. He looked up to the reason he had found his way over here so fast. One of the monitors in the upper lefthand corner was flashing red. This had only happend a handfull of times since his stay at the tower, and that was saying something.

Through the screen he could see the most unusal pairing of people. The first of the two was rather short with golden hair that twisted into a braid down his back. He was clad in black clothing with a red jacket and white gloves. The second was encased in a full suit of armor, standing at roughly seven feet tall, which made the first boy look even smaller. The peculiar pair stood in front of a portal swirling with green energy.

The portal was nothing Clockwork hadn't seen before. Portals like these normally existed in plentiful amounts throughout the dimension, linking the Ghost Zone and the human world. Though most didn't stay open for long.

But something was off here. The problem was the places that this portal conected. Two different realities were about to cross paths.

Also, this was nothing that Clockwork hadn't dealt with before. When it happened, it was his duty as the Master of Time to prevent any contact between the two realities.

But this time he hesitated.

The thought of letting these realities cross paths intruiged him. He let the statistics flow through his mind. There was about a fifty percent chance that both realities would benefit greatly from interacting with each other. Considering the situation, this percentage was far from horrible. But the other fifty percent... It was dreadful. If it ended that way, nothing would be left of both parties but disaster.

He stood, or rather floated, there with a heavy decision weighted on him. He could go with his mind, which told him that the safest and smartest way to handle this was to cutt off any contact between the two so that neither party suffered. Or he could go with his gut, which told him that if it ended correctly, both sides would gain from each other, almost like a symbiotic relationship.

He thought back to the last time he went with his gut. He was right to do it, but if he hadn't stepped in at the last minute to help, the world would have been filled with death, dispair, and a powerful, evil ghost that wanted nothing more than to destroy everything.

But this time there was no stepping in. No, this was a true gamble. For he could only interfere in his own reality. The only reason he could see these boys on one of his monitors was because the portal that was there with them connected to the reality in which he existed. If he closed the portal, all contact with that other world would be lost to him.

He decided that he should do the smart thing and close the portal. But something held him back and refused to let him move as he watched the odd boys jump through the portal.

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**A/N: And there you have it. The prologue. If you could, please drop a review. Constructive criticism is more than welcome. **

**Until next time,**

**~PhantomPhever**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thank you to the few that reviewed on the prologue of this story: flyingpoppy1060, kok0roxGuardian, and Fluehatraya. Also thanks to all who added this to faves and alerts. You guys are awesome! **

**Also although this first chapter was updated relatively close to the prologue, I can't promise that updates will be frequent or quick inbetween. And I'm sorry for that! Like I mentioned before, I only have a rough outline of the plot. I don't even have chapter two outlined yet. It all depends on how much free time I have to work on this. **

**Also I seem to have a curse of writing short chapters. I'm trying to cure that, but it may take a while if I can cure it at all. _;**

**This is the first time that I've ever written the FMA characters, so I'm a little worried about how they came out... But I'm like that for any person or people I write... **

**Well enough of my blabbering. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Crossing Paths.**

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Chapter 1

"Damn that colonel! Making us take a trek in this heat!" Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, wiped the sweat from his brow with a gloved hand while he complained to a bulky suit of armor that walked beside him. The pairing walked along a deserted path away from a quaint little village hidden in a valley.

"Come on, Ed," Alphonse Elric responded to his annoyed older brother. "It's not that bad. At least it was a lead on the Philosopher's Stone."

"Yeah. Another false one at that," Ed said dryly. "I feel like we're walking in circles. What's a guy gotta do to get a real lead around here?" He roughed up his golden braided hair with his right hand a little, physically expressing his agitation. He felt the slightly heated metal of his steel prosthetic limb beneath the glove before dropping both arms to fold them across his chest.

"I'm sure we'll find something soon," Al, ever the optimist, tried to reassure his brother.

"I hope you're right," Ed half smiled towards Al for a moment, dropping his arms back to his sides before his expression turned sour. "But now I have to report back to Colonel Cockypants and tell him that I've got nada. I can just imagine his smug face now..." He trailed off before abruptly stopping in his tracks, Al almost walking into him in the process.

"Hey, a little warning next time would be nice," Al said in an accusing tone.

"Do you feel something strange in the atmosphere here?" Ed asked, completely ignoring his brother's last words.

"Well... Now that you mention it... yeah. It almost feels like the air's rippling."

"So, I'm not the only one seeing that," Ed said as more of a statement than a question as he pointed to a strange, visible air current in front of him.

"No, you aren't..." Al found himself almost transfixed watching as the air seemed to almost rip open. "What do you suppose..." He started to ask Ed before all words escaped him. They both watched in awe as the air pulled and stretched apart. As it did so swirling green energy filled the void in which was being created. The circular hole in the atmosphere expanded until it was about eight feet in diameter.

"I've... never seen anything like this," Ed broke the silence between them. "It's amazing." The analytical scientist in him seemed to awaken as he took a step closer to the portal-like hole in the air.

"Be careful, brother! We don't know what this thing is or what it's capable of!" Al warned as he reached out to place an armored hand on a red jacketed shoulder.

"All the more reason why we should investigate further." Ed gently shrugged off his brother's hand.

Al sighed inwardly. Once Ed had his mind set on something...

"Do you think it leads somewhere?" Ed had gotten closer, reaching out with his right hand, index finger extended, to poke the green energy. Just a couple of centimeters before making contact, he stopped and watched the energy swirl around his outstretched finger.

"I don't think it's a good idea to find out." Al responded, almost reading the state alchemist's thoughts.

Ed seemed to deflate a smidge, realizing that Al was probably right. But then an idea struck him. He glanced around the landscape, quickly locating what he was looking for. He took a few steps to the side to pick up a relatively long stick. "Well if it's too dangerous for us to test first ourselves, than I'm sure this little guy won't mind being our guinea pig," Ed gestured to the stick before carefully approaching the portal.

Knowing that he couldn't deter his stubborn brother from proceeding, Al waited anxiously as Ed slowly let the energy encase the stick until his hand was a few inches from it itself. He kept it there for a few moments, leaning to check the opposite side of the portal. The stick wasn't protruding out from the other side, meaning this lead somewhere completely different than where they were standing right now. He removed the stick carefully.

"No worse for the wear," Ed said as he inspected the twig-turned-specimen. "Just think of what could have caused this. If it's alchemy, it's nothing I've ever seen before." He dropped the stick where he found it before turning to look at Al. "Imagine the possibilities. What we could learn from this, what answers might lie on the other side..." He trailed off as he made to approach the portal again, arm outstretched.

"Ed..." Al moved in closer to his brother.

"Come on, Al," Ed turned toward his brother, a hint of aggitation in his voice. "Aren't you the least bit curious?" He let his hand drop to his side.

"At least let me be the one to test it next. My body's a lot more durable than yours." Ed seemed to lighten up as the suit of armor walked towards the swirling energy.

Al repeated the same process the stick went through, though once he had his arm in position Ed asked "Can you still move your hand while it's on the other side?"

"Yeah," Al responded as he clenched and unclenched his unseen fist. After a few times he pulled his arm back out, completely unscathed.

"Now for the real test," Ed stated as he held up his left arm. He repeated the previous process for a third time. "Seems to be quite safe. Three tests, none proving to cause any damage," he relayed as he inspected his hand, now out of the portal.

"What about reporting to Central?" Al asked, half-heartedly tring to send Ed off track.

"Eh, let that excuse of a colonel wonder where I am. Payback for a dead end lead," Ed retorted, caught in the fantasy of witnessing Colonel Mustang's expression. "Besides," He continued, pulling out of his daydream, "we have no other leads right now, and this could quite possibly supply us with extremely useful information. We just need to make a leap."

"All it takes is one leap," Al repeated the words of a younger Ed.

"Exactly," The golden-eyed alchemist stared at his younger brother with determination flooding his facial expression. "Are you ready to take that leap?"

There was a slight pause before the head of the armor nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

The pair then turned in unison to the mysterious portal of swirling energy before jumping through.

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**A/N: And there's the first chapter. I hope I did alright... If it's not too much trouble drop a reveiw! **

**Until I'm back,**

**~PhantomPhever**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! This did take longer than I thought it would. I was sort of busy, but it was mostly writer's block. I had a hard time writing the beginning of this chapter, so sorry if it's not good. ; **

**A load of thanks to my reviewers: The Sin of Justice, Fluehatraya, flyingpoppy1060, PrideTheArrogant(I loved your review XD), kok0roxGuardian, Anime lover 3593, The Rose Blue Prince, and Leviathantamer. You guys rock my socks, and get me motivated to write more!**

**Alright enough blabbering, and oh. I keep forgetting a disclaimer. So here: DISCLAIMER: I do not own DP or FMA, not characters, not story plots. Nothing. I do this for fun. :P (this counts for past,and, if i forget, future chapters)**

**Now on with the story!**

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Chapter 2

Ed pushed himself off of the gray pavement feeling a little dazed. The drop out of the portal was higher than he expected it to be. "Hey, Al, you okay?" He asked, watching the bulk of metal push itself into a standing position.

"Yeah, I think so," He responded, looking around to get a feel of their whereabouts. They seemed to be in an alley. It was a dead end, cool brick walls on three sides of them giving the place a dark shadow. But at the end of the alleyway there was light shining through, showing that it was still daylight out. "Where are we?"

"Some place called Amity Park, by the looks of it," Ed replied reading a billboard that was above Al's side of the alley. _'Amity Park. A nice place to live' _was enscripted on the oversized sign with big letters. "The name doesn't ring a bell..."

"Brother!" Al cut off his train of thought. "Look!" He pointed behind Ed where the portal was, or had been. It was slowly spinning into itself, getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared into nothing with a small _pop_.

The two stared at the spot where the portal had been, surprise clear.

"Now look where your bright idea got us, brother!" Al broke the silence. "I knew this was a bad idea..."

"But you're the one who agreed to it!" Ed countered.

"Only because you were so adamant about it!"

"Are you telling me that you would have really passed this golden opportunity up?" Ed looked at his brother and then turned back to the empty space that was once the portal. "Besides, we can't change what's happened, but we can still move forward. We'll just have to find another way back." He looked at his brother again, a determined smile on his face. "And see if we can't find any information on the Philosopher's Stone along the way. That was the reason we made this decision, right?"

Whatever response Al had was forgotten as something, or someone, flew, yes _flew_, by the alley.

Ed ran to the end of the alley, closely followed by Al. "What the..." He trailed off looking in the direction that the unidentified flying object went. He barely had time to collect his thoughts as a second unidentified object flew past, about five feet from them. "Come on, Al!" Ed motioned for the suit of armor to follow as he ran after the two objects in question.

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The clock on the bleak white wall seemed to tick extra slow as it counted down the last few minutes of class for the day. Thank god it was Friday.

Mr. Lancer, a fairly out-of-shape, bald-headed teacher, closed his Edgar Allan Poe book, finishing up the lecture. He sat down at his desk, organizing tomorrow's lesson plan. "As for your homework assignment over the weekend-" his speech was cut short by the ring of the bell, signaling the end of the school day.

In what seemed like miliseconds, the classroom was empty, save a few forgotten papers that lazily floated their way to the floor. The teacher sighed as he packed up his things and headed out of the doorway himself.

"I swear man! Lancer's class is such a bore!" Tucker Foley, an African American boy donned in brown boots, khaki shorts, and a yellow shirt topped off with a red berret over his short black hair, exclaimed to the two teens who walked beside him. "Especially when it's last period on a Friday!" He pushed his glasses closer to his teal colored eyes.

"I know what you mean," Samantha Manson, a girl dressed in mostly black with hints of purple and green, responded. "I like dark poetry as much as the next goth, but give it to a middle-aged, monotoned teacher and even I'm put to sleep." Her raven black hair bounced ever so slightly as she walked down the crowded hallways of Casper High School.

Daniel Fenton, adorned in a red and white tee-shirt, faded blue jeans, and red tennis shoes, chuckled, his black hair falling slightly in front of his soft, baby blue eyes. "Well at least the bell rang before he could assign any homework."

The trio had reached the sidewalk in front of the school. "Did you guys want to come hang at my place for a while?" Sam asked, her violet eyes looking between the two boys.

"I'd love to, but Jazz made me promise to come home right after school today if there was no ghost trouble," Danny replied, slumping his shoulders ever so slightly. "She wants to help me study for math. Joy." He said sarcastically and gave a hollow laugh, not wanting to think about his least favorite subject.

He reluctantly bid fairwell to his friends, and turned in the opposite direction to head home. He walked slowly, enjoying the peacefulness of the afternoon. Sometimes it was nice to just walk and listen to the birds, not having to think about anything.

Suddenly a chill deep in his core rose up his spine and escaped through his mouth as a blue mist. "So much for not having to think about anything." Danny mused to himself before ducking into an adjacent alley, out of sight.

The alley walls flashed for a moment as two white rings appeared around the teen's torso and split directions. As they completed their pass over his body, Danny Fenton was no longer there. Danny Phantom, the local town hero, and mischievous ghost took the black-haired boy's place. Neon green eyes glowed with an unnatural energy and silver-white hair was blown back as the half-ghost took to the skies.

"Now where..." Danny started, looking for the cause of his ghost sense. Not long after he spotted a blue ghost in jean overalls flying towards a warehouse. The ghost boy sighed and rolled his eyes at the annoyance. He flew lower and followed the smaller ghost, past the entrance to a dead-end alleyway.

Once near ther warehouse, the ghost in persuit slipped inside via the wall, Danny in tow, both ignoring the door below completely.

When they were both inside, the first ghost turned, now noticing the presence of Phantom. "Beware! I am the Box Ghost! Behold my awesome power over all things cardboard and square!" The blue ghost proclaimed, fueled with confidence that came from who knows where.

"Look, can you just do us both a favor and get in the thermos yourself?" Danny asked, sounding bored and irritated.

"You cannot contain me within that cylyndrical container!" The Box Ghost yelled as he started to levitate the boxes around him. "Tremble in fear as you are pelted with..." He paused to read the inscription on the side of the closest box. "Plastic Tupperware!" The little blue annoyance thew both hands forward, letting the boxes fly forward and spill their contents toward his opponent.

Danny floated in the same spot, his arms folded across his chest and simply went intangible, letting everything simply fly _through _him. After everything hit the wall behind him, he dropped intangibility and uncapped his Fenton Thermos. Pointing it at the Box Ghost, he activated it. A blue-white light enveloped the protesting ghost and sucked him inside.

As soon as he capped the device, he turned to leave. The ghost froze in his aerial tracks as he spotted two strangers in the doorway staring up at him.

"What the hell are you...?"

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**And there you have it! Still short, yes. And I'm sorry. v.v Also I seem to have a thing for writing the Box Ghost as the first ghost that shows up. He's just so much fun to write! He's kind of cute in the way that he's such a confident idiot. Am I the only one that thinks that? Probably. Oh, well, my opinion stands.**

**If it's not too much effort, please drop a review, let me know what you think.**

**Until next time (hopefully sooner than later)**

**~PhantomPhever**


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